On a farm in northern Madison County, a herd of cows grazes near four rows of hay bales. The cows won’t eat the hay until winter, but before then, farmer Austin Cooper will need to buy more.
Cooper works or leases nearly 600 acres for his cow-calf operation, which also grows hay for the livestock. About 100 acres are devoted to the crop. Cooper said this year’s fields were shorter because it was so dry leading up to cutting at the end of May.
“Eight acres I cut in one field, last year it brought…I think it was 40 rolls,” Cooper said. “This year was like 24. Of course, that was the first field I cut, and then it got a little better and better as we went on.”
The first cut of the year for Cooper runs through end of June. His cows graze until winter, and he said he doesn’t feed them much grain, but they need good nutrition so they can calf in the fall or spring.
Many cattle operations cut their own hay, though the equipment and land can be expensive. If a farmer needs to supplement, that adds to the cost.
“I've penciled it out and honestly, and I've done it lately, that it probably is better to go on and buy your hay if you can find somewhere,” Cooper said.
He said part of the reason he still grows his own hay is to be independently resourceful.
“I know the quality of hay that I'm putting up every single time. And two farms alone, two small farms, are nothing but hay farms,” Cooper said.
Andrew Simpson is another Madison County cattle farmer who grows hay, running about 400 acres at his operation. The hay Simpson already cut this year was shorter and thinner because it was so dry. He thinks the next cut will be better.
“Seems like now we're used to being dry in July, and we can get to bush hogging or cutting hay, and everything seems good,” Simpson said. “But the last two months, it seems like it rains every three days, and rains quite a few inches when it does, so if you've got some hay on the ground, it's going to spoil.”
He said the conditions are unusual for Kentucky. Typically when it’s wet before the hay is cut, it makes for a thicker grass, which leads to more hay bales.
Simpson’s cows also rely heavily on grazing, but he still doesn’t want to risk running out of hay. He’s considering purchasing some soon, since the price is down compared to later in the year.
“We're really heavy grazing, and then this winter, I'll move them on to pasture that hadn't been touched in eight or nine months,” Simpson said. “They'll have good tall grass to eat on most of the winter, and just supplement a little bit of feed and a little bit of hay, and they'll pull through. If they don't, they're getting sold.”
Simpson butchers his own cows and sells them at his farm store. The calves need to reach a certain weight before they can be butchered, and if there’s not enough forage and feed, the end product won’t be the same quality.
University of Kentucky forage specialist Chris Teutsch said the less-than-ideal hay growing season could mean lower nutritional value in the crop that is harvested.
“It will have a harder time meeting the needs of cows and calves in the state, the nutritional needs of the animal,” Teutsch said.
Hay provides nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus among other nutrients to cattle. About 80 to 90% of those nutrients get excreted by the cows and returns to the field to regrow grass the animals graze on.
There are certain types of forage that grow best in Kentucky, such as tall fescue, alfalfa and red cover. Some need to be replanted each year, while others are perennial. All of Kentucky’s hay grows best in a wet spring and bales at peak during a dry summer.
“We're always battling either too much or not enough rain,” Teutsch said. “We had a very, very dry winter, and our first-yield hay was probably in most parts of the state 30 to 50 percent less than normal.”
In 2025, the state grew about 5.3 million tons of hay, and Teutsch said about 90% of it went to calf-cow operations. Some of the most premium crop is for horses, however.
Much of the state was in a drought earlier this year when the hay needed the most moisture to grow. The fields are generally not irrigated.
When it did start raining, it was time to cut the crop. Drier weather for about four days is generally needed to bale hay. The exception is baleage, which involves wrapping the hay in plastic and letting it ferment. Teutsch said data shows there are fewer days for hay baling each year.
Allan Bryant grows hay as a part of his calf-cow operation in Henry County. He thinks he may have to buy hay for the first time in his roughly 36 years due to the weather.
“It was quite concerning – low volume, poor quality and probably going to have to supplement some this fall,” Bryant said. “I'll be testing my hay later, and to go from there.”
He’s expecting lower proteins in his early hay, and he needs quite a bit. Bryant’s operation includes 200 cows that produce 140 calves.
Supplementing the hay will be an extra cost for producers, but for now, consumers likely won’t feel the pinch because beef is subject to the cattle market, not the cost of feed.
“Poor quality hay is going to be a cost that I will have to bear because I'll need to supplement more,” Bryant said. “That's going to increase my cost some, but again, it's a strong cattle market, and we're still going to march on.”
